Immigration Blog

President Trump's tweet this morning, suggesting Middle Eastern migrants have joined the large caravan of mostly Central Americans, is more likely than not true. Whether any are linked to terrorism is an altogether separate question he did not address, because this is a very hard thing to ever know with this traffic. A significant homeland security conundrum regarding Middle Eastern migrants moving along well established smuggling routes through Latin America is that we don't and often can't know their hearts and personal histories; often they travel with fake or no ID.

This is a particularly salient point given the caravan of migrants from Central America. If they knew that they would not be released upon arrival in this country and passing credible fear, they would be less likely to come.

Apparently a part of the "plan" for resolving this caravan crisis via UNHCR decision-making is to distribute those who get a thumbs-up among and between various countries, including the United States.

The closer the caravan gets to the southern border of the United States, the more likely it is to influence the midterm elections.

The Democratic candidate for a safe seat in the U.S. House of Representatives stands accused of immigration/marriage fraud and bigamy. The district is in Minnesota. More precisely, Somalia-born, now-naturalized Ilhan Omar is accused of marrying her own brother while being married to another, as well as misuse of campaign funds, two probably unrelated maters.

There is no reason to believe that the number of aliens entering illegally who are seeking credible fear will slow anytime soon. If they were subject to mandatory detention upon arrival in the United States, however, that will likely change, quickly.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week on the trip that CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan made last month to the so-called "Northern Triangle" countries of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. The commissioner went to those countries in an attempt to assess the "push" factors that lead nationals of those countries to try to enter the United States illegally. The "pull" factors are likely stronger, but it is often difficult to separate one from the other.

Officials announced last week that they are waiving approximately 30 environmental laws in Texas in order to expedite wall construction, citing homeland security concerns. Predictably, environmental groups are not happy, and some plan on suing the Trump administration to block the move.

Salam persuasively argues that "a more selective, skills-based immigration system would yield a more egalitarian economy ... and a more egalitarian economy would help heal our country's ethnic divides."

The more accepted and acceptable such ersatz documents become for various purposes within the city, county, or state, the more they will be used as breeder documents to get real, official identification documents to create completely false identities for aliens, at least some of whom will be exactly the type of individuals the city claims that it wants to safeguard immigrant communities against: the criminals.